Improved snow-plough



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ABEL l\TU'l".l`IN(;lr, OF QINGY, MASSACHSETTS. Leafs Patent ivo. 71,902,V dated December 1o, 1867.

IMPROVBD SNOW-PLOUGH.

'ro ALL vvnoM` 1r MAY ooNcERN:

Be it known that I, ABEL NUTTING, of'Quincy, in the county of Norfolk, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and improved SnowPlough for Railway-Tracks; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings .which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention suiiicient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it.

Prior to my invention, snow-ploughs, for the purpose of clearing railway-tracks, have all had one general lmethod of operation, though varying considerably in form or shape, said method being the removal of the snow to one or both sides ofthe track, by the action thereupon of inclined bodies, propelled against the snow by locomotives. Such ploughs operate well except where they meet with snow in bodies suiicient to overcome the momentum with which the ploughs are propelled, in which cases they become wholly inoperative, and thenthe track has to bevcleared by hard labor.

My invention consists in mounting upon a shaft, in front of the locomotive or train, a' set of blades,-the edges of which in their revolution describe the outline of a conical body, the axis of rotation being substantially'parallol with the track, so that the blades, when propelled forward and rotated at the same time, act

upon the snowto cut into it and throw it to one side or the other of thetrack, according tothe direction of the rotation given to the apparatus. y

The drawing shows ,in plan an apparatus embodying my invention. l U

Therframea represents the frame of a locomotive, or of a truck,V which mayfbo pushed ahead of the loeomotive on the track, the rotating-shaft tbeing supported in suitable bearings on the framev On the shaft are fixed heads, ce', these serving to hold the blades d, which I prefer to have made and set on angles with the shaft, as shown, `sothat in their.l rotationV they will cut into the snow gradually along their length, and thus lessen'the strain upon the apparatus; and to facilitate still further the easy working oi' the device, prefer to4 extend the blades to the end of the shaft, which has a pointed termination, as shown.

t The peculiar construction and arrangement of the blades shown and described is not of the essence of my invention, and may be varied as experience may show to be desirable; as, for example, the heads may be dispensed with, and the blades may be unitedV directly to the shaft, and braced to each other,.so as to obtain the requisite-strength for service.

The Wheels ofthe truck are marked e, and there is shown on their axle a bevel-gear, from which, by any suitable system of gearing, rotary motion is given to the shaft b, s`o that in many cases the rotation of the shaft b and its blade d is effected by the propulsion ofthe train along the track. But-as in some cases it is impossible, by the momentum of a train, to propel it with a plough in advance through drifts, I propose to connect, by means of suitable gearing, the shaft b with,an engine arranged on the frame ct, which engine, when it is employed to rotate the plough, is not cmployedto propel the train, the engine being supplied with steam from the boiler ofthe locomotive which propels the train, or from a separate boiler carried on the frame a. And it may here be observed that the gearing which rotates the plough may be arranged so that, by ehangeo'f the gears as to position, it will rota-te the plough to the right or to the left, as circumstances may require, whether the rotation is eiected from the propulsion ofthe train or from a separate and special engine'.

To widen the clearance made by the plough,` inclined wings or shearsfmay be secured to the frame, and to clear away the snow left under the plough in the form of a concave, additional inclines or. shares are to .be employed,reaching from a point under the centre ofthe shaft Z1, and extending downward near the rails, and outward, substantially as shown in red lines o n the drawing. p 4

To operate Well in practice, the length of the' shaft inboard on the locomotive, or on the supplemental truck, should exceed in-length the overhanging or outboard length of theshaft around which lthe blades are arranged.

I claim, for the purpose describedl Therotary plough, arranged to operate substantially as set forth. p

Also, in combination with such a plough, inclines or shares, fixed, with respect to the frame by which they are supported, substantially as described. i o

, ABEL NUTTING.

Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY, FnANcIs GoULD. 

